News
Next Meeting
UPDATE: More information coming soon about the new CWSC meeting schedule!!!
FIRE INFORMATION
As of 8/23 PM: Tumwater Canyon Fire 100% contained and estimated at 458 acres. You can click HERE for maps and more. Cause under investigation. Hwy 2 open- watch for fire suppression traffic. Scroll down to the CWSC Twitter feed near the bottom of this News box for the most up to date information.
Smoke in the air is a good reminder of what can happen-- so take this opportunity to move wood piles away from your home, remove ladder fuel and thin out dead brush.
Chumstick Environmental Assessment
The Chumstick Hazardous Fuels Reduction Environmental Assessment was published March 7, 2011. An electronic copy of the document can be viewed here.
CWSC Featured in Wilderness Society Newsletter!
The CWSC was featured in the January News of the North Cascades Newsletter. Read the article here!
Monitoring in Progress!
Check out this great article on the work of the CWSC Monitoring Committee. The Monitoring Program is made possible by the Mountaineers Foundation.
CWSC on TV!
KCTS 9 Documentary - "North Cascades: People, Places and Stories"
Private Lands Cost-Share Opportunity!
Download the application and supplemental questionnaire and get help completing fuels reduction on your property!
Follow us on Twitter!
Meetings & Events
Road Decommissioning Proposed in the Chumstick
The US Forest Service has proposed a project in the Peshastin & Chumstick watersheds to restore fisheries & wildlife habitat through removal of potentially un-needed or unstable roads.
The Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition and US Forest Service would like to invite you to participate in the discussion.
Attend the public meeting. July 6th, 6-8pm at Chelan County Fire District 3 in Leavenworth
Contact Project Team Leader Greer Maie at comments_wenatchee_river@fs.fed.us or (509)-548-2577
Visit the US Forest Service website for maps and information at http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=35254
This project is an important piece of the overall work towards a healthy Chumstick Watershed and the CWSC is pleased to see the Forest Service moving forward with this conversation. The Forest Service News Release is below.
US FOREST SERVICE NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: June 29, 2011
Contacts: Susan C Peterson, Wenatchee River Ranger District Public Affairs, 509-548-2558
Greer Maier, Wenatchee River RD Aquatics Manager, IDT Team Leader, 509-548-2577
Leavenworth, Wash.-- The Wenatchee River Ranger District is holding a public meeting on July 6, 2011 to gather information and answer questions about a proposal for decommissioning some roads located on national forest land in the Peshastin and Chumstick watersheds of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
The July 6th meeting location is Chelan County Fire District #3 Meeting Room, 228 Chumstick Highway, Leavenworth, Washington, from 6-8 p.m.
The primary objective of the proposed project is restoration of fisheries and wildlife habitat through removal of 64 miles of roads that are no longer needed for forest management. The proposed roads for decommissioning are sub-standard and unneeded roads that have not been maintained or repaired. Many of these roads have the potential to fail in the future creating a potential for detrimental impacts to aquatic species and water quality.
The meeting is an opportunity for you to learn more about the project and meet the Interdisciplinary Team members who are working on the project. Comments on the proposal may be turned in at the meeting, mailed to the ranger station, or emailed to:comments_wenatchee_river@fs.fed.us
A presentation on the proposal will take place at 6:00 p.m. Following the presentation, there will be opportunities for participants to visit with representatives from the Forest Service and the Chelan County Department of Natural Resources.
Additional details about the proposal are available on-line at: www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/projects/projects.shtml?project=35254.
Thank you for taking the time to assist us in managing your national forest.
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Chumstick Hazardous Fuel Reduction Environmental Assessment Meeting
The Environmental Assessment document for the Chumstick Project is now available online at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/projects/projects.shtml?project=26953
The US Forest Service be available March 17th at 6:30 PM in the Barn at Barn Beach Reserve to answer questions and discuss the Environmental Assessment. This is a critical meeting and important follow-up to the extensive collaborative work done to date. We hope to see you there. Please do take a moment to review the document in advance.
Questions about the Environmental Assessment may be directed to the project team leader Mick Mueller (mmueller@fs.fed.us or 509-548-2583). Comments or questions about the CWSC response to the Environmental Assessment can be directed to Annie Schmidt (director@chumstickcoalition.org or 509-630-2836).
Wildfire Perspectives
The Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition presented "Wildfire Perspectives: The Evolving Role of Fire on Natural and Human Landscapes" 7:00PM, April 8 at Barn Beach Reserve in Leavenworth. The evening examined how our actions have changed landscape fire behavior as well as how our perceptions of fire have changed over time.
The keynote speaker for the evening was Jim Agee, Professor Emeritus of Forest Ecology at the University of Washington. He taught forest and fire ecology over a 30-year career at UW and his 1993 book, Fire Ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests, remains the most widely cited reference in this discipline. Professor Agee has served with The Nature Conservancy and the Washington Natural Heritage Council. He also served on a National Academy of Science committee on non-federal forests and on the Forest Service's Committee of Scientists. Dr. Agee retired from active teaching at the university in Autumn, 2007. In 2009, he was awarded the Harold Biswell Lifetime Achievement Award in Fire Ecology and Management from the Association for Fire Ecology.
Other speakers included Mike Cecka, former Leavenworth City Administrator, and Bill Schmidt, local resident. Mike was with the City in 1994 and kept a journal of the major fires. He will be providing a short retrospective on that summer as it is perhaps the most vivid wildfire event in the collective community memory. Bill Schmidt is an engineer and local landowner who took fuel reduction action on his property after the 1994 fires- action that saved his home in a subsequent fire.
Meeting Minutes
More minutes coming soon.
Events
Pictures of Firewise Chumstick Annual Field Day
